Yu Darvish (HAM) tossed an inning in relief tonight against the Orix Buffaloes (1 IP, 4 BF, 12 NP, 1 H, 1 SO, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 ER). Prior to tonight's game, Masataka Nashida told reporters that there was maybe a 10 to 20% chance that he would use Darvish in relief, primarily because he was coming off a 146-pitch start on Saturday. On top of that, Darvish had thrown three straight complete games while throwing 120+ pitches in each -- 121 pitches on 9/11, 146 pitches on 9/18, and 146 pitches on 9/25.

Guess Darvish really wanted to get out there.

For Darvish, it was his first appearance in relief since 10/1/2008 (and third over his career).